The most memorable moments from the 2024 Juno Awards

The Juno Awards are taking over Halifax for the first time since 2006, and CBC Music is on the ground to catch every thrilling moment. Whether it's performances from Canada's rising stars, behind-the-scenes hijinks or Junofest showcases that bring the house down, we'll be covering Juno Week so you don't miss a thing.

There's a lot happening, but we'll make sure you'll feel like you're there. Scroll down for the highlights, and for more Junos coverage, head over to cbcmusic.ca/junos.

March 24: the Juno Awards

This year's host, Nelly Furtado, opened the show with an excellent medley of her biggest hits including "Maneater" (which featured a cameo from Canada's Drag Race Season 4 winner Venus), "Promiscuous" and her Juno-nominated single with Dom Dolla, "Eat Your Man." She also performed different renditions of well-known songs like a more dance-oriented version of "Give it to Me" and a gorgeous spin on "I'm Like a Bird," which was backed by a violin and cello quartet. When she finished, she welcomed the audience and viewers to the biggest night in Canadian music, and followed that up by introducing the night's first presenter: Canadian legend Anne Murray.

"She's one very talented lady," Murray said of Furtado, with whom she collaborated on Murray's 2008 album, Duets. "Some of you might be too young to know much about me," Murray then joked. "But I attended the very first Juno Award celebrations way back when, even before Nelly and many of you were born."

"I won a couple awards that night," she continued, "and since then I'm proud to say I've won a pile of them. So because of that, and seeing as I'm a Nova Scotian who lives just up the street, the producers thought that I'd be just the person to welcome you here to Halifax. So here I am, and welcome to Halifax!"

Murray presented the Juno for group of the year, which went to the Beaches, counting as the Toronto band's second Juno of the weekend. "To all the young girls watching, go start bands with your best friends!" they said, before leaving the stage.

2024 nominees Jeremy Dutcher and Morgan Toney collaborated on a stunning rendition of the Mi'kmaq Honour Song and Dutcher's song "Skicinuwihkuk," with dancer Sarah Prosper performing around them. Dutcher and Toney then joined recent Juno winner Elisapie on her track "Uummati Attanarsimat," her translated version of Blondie's "Heart of Glass." 

In the media room later on in the night, Dutcher reflected on having three Indigenous musicians perform onstage together, who all speak different languages: "For me, it's like [the audience] can't help feel the connection. What happens when we share our language in this Indigenous land, they can feel it."

"It was amazing to be with this person that I love so much, mon chouchou," Elisapie said to Dutcher. "Rips a fiddle!" Dutcher said of Toney.

Dutcher, who was wearing a beaded medallion that read "Ceasefire now," explained his fashion choice: "This medallion that I'm wearing around my neck is made by a local Mi'kmaq artist named Jesse Benjamin," he said. "The message is clear so as not to be misinterpreted. I thought we might not need it by now."

Ottawa newcomer Talk, who was up for five awards this year and took home breakthrough artist of the year, made his Junos debut with a rousing performance of his biggest hit to date "Run Away to Mars" (which has over 130 million streams on Spotify) and "A Little bit Happy," which was complete with an electrifying guitar solo.

"I think I spent a long time putting effort in and pretending to be someone I'm not," Talk said in the media room, when asked what advice he had for people trying to find their own place in the world. "And I just got too f--king lazy and decided to be everything that I wanted to be, and fully myself. And sometimes it's a mistake and sometimes it's too much, and sometimes I do the wrong thing, but at least I can go to bed at night feeling true to myself."

Kardinal Offishall gave a passionate introduction to this year's Hall of Fame inductee, Maestro Fresh Wes. In a package explaining the rapper's career, a number of artists congratulated him on this honour. "Thank you for being the shoulders that we could stand on," Love Inc. singer Simon Denny said. This year's rap album/EP of the year winner Tobi called him "the epitome of longevity," and Bronx rapper Lord Finesse described him as a "Canadian superhero."

Onstage, Maestro Fresh Wes thanked his family, his DJs and dancers over the years and reflected on winning the inaugural Juno Award for rap album of the year in 1991. "In that moment, I felt great," he said, "but at the same time, songwriting icon Leonard Cohen received his Hall of Fame award, and I was instantly humbled. Who would've thought, in 2024, I'd be standing here onstage holding the exact same award. This is hip-hop."

Elliot Page presented Tegan and Sara with the Humanitarian Award, and gave them an emotional introduction.

"We're at a time in history where the rights of 2SLGBTQ+ people are being revoked, restricted and eliminated throughout the world, and the effects of it are devastating," he said. "The Tegan and Sara Foundation has one simple mandate: to provide safety and community for 2SLGBTQ+ people, and to create inroads towards queer joy.… the Tegan and Sara Foundation is giving young people opportunities to show up authentically. Tegan and Sara have proven time and time again their commitment to ensuring that the lives of 2SLGBTQ+ people are happy, healthy, and most importantly, long."

After a long hug between the sisters and Page, Tegan and Sara gave a beautiful acceptance speech — and were able to get a bit of their sense of humour in at the end.

"There is no world where we would stand on this stage and accept this award without the love and support of all of you," said Sara. "We'd also like to say thank you to all the fans of our band. Whether you knew it or not, each of you has played a central role to fund the work that we've done with the Tegan and Sara Foundation ... thank you for existing, and for standing up for our community." 

"To the many who have come before us, and fought before us, we share this with you," added Tegan.

"If the world were not so hostile to 2SLGBTQ+ people, we would see ourselves purely as musicians," Sara continued. "Advocating for our communities' rights is a great privilege, and we are dedicated to confronting any form of discrimination that threatens the wellbeing of our community."

"We love being gay and we love —" said Tegan, before Sara jumped in to say: "So gay. Try it out." "And we love you," Tegan continued, laughing. "So thank you so much for this recognition."

Back in the media room, Tegan and Sara reflected on artists who influenced their work and activism. Sara remembered getting Ani DiFranco's Living in Clip live album, and it being one of the first times that she'd heard a woman speaking to an audience. 

"Sarah and I, our first concert was at a mall seeing k.d. lang in 1985," added Tegan. "And Sara and I had really long hair and after that show we begged to have all of our hair cut off. I think that it's significant to look back on that now to see how important representation is and that was the first woman we'd ever seen with short hair. I'm not saying that we knew we were gay at that age, but I think we saw something in k.d. and it really influenced us."

Allison Russell, Aysanabee, Logan Staats, Shawnee Kish, Julian Taylor and William Prince came together for a moving tribute to the late Gordon Lightfoot and Robbie Robertson, performing "If You Could Read My Mind" and "The Weight." It was powerful to hear so many contemporary singers and songwriters cover two men who have influenced generations.

"As a First Nations man who once questioned my own place in the world and where my songs and voice belonged, I can empathize with a man discovering his Mohawk identity late in life. And then for him to so selflessly give to the Indigenous people in the last hours of his time, it was very selfless. So it was easy," Prince later said in the media room, of paying tribute to Robertson. 

Surrey, B.C., singer and rapper Karan Aujla made history tonight when he won the TikTok Fan Choice Award, making him the first racialized artist to win in the category's 21-year history. Aujla also gave an incredible performance earlier on in the evening, teaming up with Toronto's Ikwinder Singh (a.k.a. Ikky) to bring their signature blend of Punjabi and pop music with songs "Admirin' You" and "Softly." 

"Sometimes I just can't believe I'm that same kid that lost his parents when he was in India, made my way out to Canada, this beautiful country, and today I'm here, man. Let's go!" he said in his speech. He concluded with an inspiring piece of advice: "If you're a dreamer, make sure you dream big." 

March 23: Honouring Ceremony, Juno Opening Night Awards, JunoFest

Saturday began with the Honouring Ceremony, which celebrated Indigenous musicians nominated at the 2024 Juno Awards. This year, there are 38 Indigenous nominees, with artists consistently nominated outside of the two contemporary and traditional Indigenous artist of the year categories. 

Just five years ago, when Jeremy Dutcher won his first Juno Award for his debut album, Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa, Indigenous artists were mainly nominated in the Indigenous music album of the year category — the only category specific to Indigenous musicians at the time. This year, Dutcher is nominated for adult alternative album of the year. 

Fiddler Morgan Toney — who nabbed his first Juno nomination this year for traditional roots album of the year — opened with the Mi'kmaq Honour Song, and dancer Sarah Prosper, from Eskasoni First Nation, joined him onstage and got everyone up on their feet. 

Many of the nominees were at the Honouring Ceremony, including Elisapie, William Prince and Darren Metz from Snotty Nose Rez Kids. When Regional Chief Andrea Paul noticed Aysanabee in the crowd, she paused her speech to let him know how she felt about his music: "I'm totally fangirling, I think you're incredible, I downloaded all your songs on Spotify," she said, smiling. 

The Juno Opening Night Awards took place in the evening, kicking off at 6 p.m. and giving out 42 of the weekend's total awards. It was a full night of speeches and performances, and one of the first speeches that really stood out came from Bambii, who won electronic album of the year. 

"I need to say first of all that Toronto's underground is so special, I've been all around the world and there's nothing that compares to my city, the real city," she said. "Queer, Caribbean immigrants, there's so many women making music that you don't know about, you need to know about them … the Canadian music industry needs the future, you need to do your research."

In the media room, Bambii expanded on her acceptance speech, which she said was cut short, explaining how second-generation Caribbean people, young people and queer people have inspired her sound. "They're in my music," she said, "their stories are in my music." When asked about her thoughts on the progress of inclusivity in the electronic music scene, she was honest about the lack of it. "We're fixated on representation, but not very critical of it," she pointed out. "We're celebrating progress a little bit too early. We're not there yet." 

Aysanabee won two Junos tonight, for both songwriter and alternative album of the year, and in his second speech he wanted to share the spotlight. "One thing I want to recognize is that this is the most Indigenous artists that have ever been nominated, so if you guys can just stand up and be seen," he said. "It was Indigenous women who opened the door for me, so I'm going to try and take those hinges off and bring you all with me. So thank you so much, miigwech."

We have the full rundown of the night here for you, and you can watch the performances here. 

The final night of JunoFest featured performances by Lisa LeBlanc, Ammoye, Bambii and local acts including Gary Beals and Lxvndr at venues across the city. Over at the Marquee, City Natives and Quake Matthews got the crowd hyped with energetic sets where both acts displayed their rap prowess. Talking candidly onstage about his new album, Roses, Quake Matthews confessed that the process of making that album made him confront a chip he had on his shoulder for years of not feeling like he's gotten the recognition that his music merits.

"I realized that life isn't about receiving your roses," he told the supportive crowd, "it's about projecting the energy that you want to receive back, so if you want your roses, you've got to give other people their f--king roses." The success of his set proved that he's getting some much-deserved roses from his fans, who cheered him through his entire set. 

Downstairs, the Seahorse Tavern featured a more rock-oriented showcase. Ballsy, the new solo project of Caveboy's synthbassist Isabelle Banos, gave a fun pop-rock performance filled with memorable melodies and hooks. Joined by her Caveboy bandmate Mint Simon, the two treated the audience to an old B-side track from that band, and ended the set with an electrifying cover of My Chemical Romance's "I'm Not Okay," which prompted many in the audience to enthusiastically sing along. Alternative album of the year nominee Softcult took the stage next, and amped things up a notch with the band's grunge-inspired anthems like "Spit it Out" and "Drain." 

The Marquee ended its lineup with a double bill of Toronto hip-hop heavyweights: Haviah Mighty and Tobi. While Haviah Mighty has proven that she can deliver fiery sets with her stacked bars, her show on Saturday night transformed into a dance party thanks to songs like "Huh" and "Sensational," off her album Crying Castles, which was nominated for rap album/EP of the year.

That album lost to Tobi's Panic, but as Tobi kicked off his performance, he praised his fellow Torontonian rapper, noting that he's known Haviah for 10-plus years and was excited to share the stage with her. Fresh off winning two awards that night, Tobi's nightcap show felt like a victory lap as he worked through songs off his winning album, including "Flowers" and "Someone I Knew," the latter of which took home rap single of the year. 

March 22: Juno Songwriters' Circle, HaliFACT Climate Stage, Block Party, JunoFest

One of the most anticipated events of the week is the Junos Songwriters' Circle, and this year's edition really delivered on Friday night. Hosted by Damhnait Doyle and featuring performances in the first hour by William Prince, Luna Elle, Matt Andersen and Rêve, followed by an hour with Begonia, Dominique Fils-Aimé, Jeremy Dutcher and Katie Tupper, the Songwriters' Circle was a captivating night of storytelling and incredible musicianship.

"[I'm] so proud to be from the Peguis First Nation, where there are so many talented youth who could be on this stage tonight," said Prince, who's up for songwriter and contemporary roots album of the year, said during his introduction. "So I'm just trying to be a good foot forward for that community … and sing songs long into my Cohen years. That's what I'm aiming for."

Luna Elle, who at 18 is the youngest artist to perform on the Songwriters' Circle stage, sang her heartbreaker "9 to 5," which is up for traditional R&B/soul recording of the year. "It was inspired by one of Beyoncé's songs actually, called 'Break My Soul.' In that song she says to quit your job, and I was like, 'What feels like a job to me, is a relationship. And if it feels like a job, I have to quit it,'" she finished, as she laughed along with the crowd.

Montreal singer Reve, who's up for pop album of the year, is known for her chart-topping dance hits, but it was just her and a piano at the Songwriters' Circle. "I've been using my piano as my therapist since I was four or five years old," she said. "Some kids were good at sports, some kids were good at math, and it was just me, weird piano girl."

During the show's second hour, Winnipeg singer-songwriter Begonia, who's up for adult alternative album of the year, let the audience into the story behind her first song, "Marigold": "I grew up quite religious and I always knew that wasn't quite where my path lay. I knew there was this alternative side of me, this queerness to me, this part that just didn't feel like it quite fit into the mold of what I had grown up in. And this song comes from that angst, but also that elation of self-discovery."

Dutcher, who's also up for adult alternative album of the year, began his set with the sobering "The Land That Held Them as They Died." "As a young Indigenous person in this country, I look at the news and I see things that are unacceptable," he said, naming Colten Boushie and Tina Fontaine as people whose stories he thinks of in this way. "And so we sing for them so that their stories are not forgotten. These people are not headlines, they're people. So each verse of this song is looking at one of those stories and trying to put light there. And just say, I'll hold your story for a minute. In the hopes that other people can too."

It was a gorgeous and emotional evening, and Saskatoon R&B singer Katie Tupper put it best: "I've been crying since the second I stepped on this stage."

• Listen to the 2024 Juno Songwriters' Circle

Earlier in the day, folks could visit the HaliFACT Climate Stage, a free, all-ages outdoor performance space set up outside the Halifax Central Library from Thursday, March 21, to Sunday, March 24. A partnership between Music Declares Emergency, the City of Halifax and the Junos, it's a carbon-neutral stage powered by solar panels and bike pedalling — and if you bring your own bike down to help with pedalling you can get a free bike tune-up from the Ecology Action Centre.

On Friday, as the sun was starting to set and the chilly afternoon was getting chillier, Montreal singer-songwriter and fiddler Aleksi Campagne played to a cozy crowd, singing a mix of his own songs — including "Rome" — and a Neil Young cover.

Night two of the Juno Block Party kicked off tonight with Nova Scotian Maggie Andrew, whose live show brought out the raucous rock edge of her pop songs like "Better Than You." Ontario acts filled out the rest of the night's lineup, including indie-pop band Dizzy and rockers Good Kid, both of whom were performing in Halifax for the first time. (When the crowd cheered for Dizzy, singer Katie Munshaw's mention of her hometown of Oshawa, she responded, "Really? Sick!")

Good Kid's high-energy set also served a practical purpose as guitarist Jacob Tsafatinos, who was wearing a T-shirt in the freezing Halifax waterfront venue, confessed to the audience that he was really cold and instructed everyone to "jump around as much as possible" to stay warm. Ottawa singer-songwriter Talk, a first-time Juno nominee who is tied for the second-most nominations this year with five, closed out the show with an enthralling set. The night ended with a surprise appearance by Toronto's the Beaches, who joined Talk onstage to perform a spirited rendition of the band's Blame My Ex cut, "Edge of the Earth." 

Over at the Sanctuary Arts Centre in Dartmouth, various musicians gathered for a heartwarming evening of music, storytelling and spreading love at one of many Junofest events taking place on Friday night. Folk singer-songwriter Julian Taylor reflected on the current landscape of the music industry and shared how grateful he felt that "so many artists support each other rather than compete with each other," despite everyone being gathered this weekend for an awards show. "We all have stories to tell," he added.

The Bearhead Sisters had a different lineup on this night as Allie Bearhead was eight months pregnant and unable to fly out for Juno weekend ("We're excited to add a new singer to our family next month," Carly Bearhead joked). In her place was a fourth Bearhead sister, Simone. Another Bearhead was also present: the sisters' mother, who doesn't fly often, but when she found out that her daughters were performing at this year's Junofest, responded, "I don't care, I'm coming on that plane!" Mama Bearhead was seated in the front row, recording much of the concert on her phone and beaming with pride. Mi'kmaq fiddler Morgan Toney capped off the showcase with his lively mix of traditional Mi'kmaq and Celtic music, getting the room to stomp and clap along to his songs, while challenging his bandmates by asking them, "How fast can you go?" With performers sitting and cheering each other through each set — with additional encouragement in the crowd from musicians like Amanda Rheaume, Hill Kourkoutis and Classified — this showcase felt like we were getting a special glimpse into a private jam session with close friends and family.

Over on the Halifax side of the harbour, Searchlight 2023 winner Mattmac performed to a packed, revved-up crowd at Pacifico, where he played a setlist that included his 2021 track "Break Me Down." The rapper and producer from Garden Hill First Nation made sure the crowd was plenty warmed up for Montreal's Rêve, whose dance moves and backup dancers took the crowd well past midnight. She ended the night with crowdpleaser "CTRL + ALT + DEL." 

Toronto R&B artist, and the 2021 winner of CBC Music's Searchlight competition, Jhyve dazzled the audience at the Rox Live. When he wasn't flexing his powerful falsetto, he was entertaining the audience with anecdotes and stories behind his songs like "Down" and "Human," the latter of which earned him his first Juno nomination in 2018. He also shared his journey to Halifax, admitting how confident he was that he was completely prepared for this trip, only to realize that he had forgotten one important thing upon arriving at the airport: his guitar. "I literally left that motherf–ker in Toronto!" he exclaimed. Thankfully, with a replacement guitar in tow, the rest of his Junos experience so far has gone smoothly.   

March 21: Stories From the Studio, Block Party

Juno week kicked off with two excellent events on Thursday night: Stories from the Studio and the new three-day festival, Block Party. 

CBC Music's Damhnait Doyle hosted Stories from the Studio at the Halifax Central Library, welcoming panellists and 2024 Juno producer of the year nominees Wondagurl (for her work with Travis Scott), Hill Kourkoutis (for her work with Aysanabee), Joel Stouffer (for his work with Rêve) and Sam Avant (for his work with Charlotte Cardin).

The four producers chatted about their craft, and answered questions ranging from their favourite snacks to stave off hangriness to how they approach their first session with an artist."I think it's just a gut thing," Stouffer said, of how he chooses whether to work with someone. "For me it's just like, I hear it or I don't. It's not to say that if I don't hear it, it's not good; it's just not me." 

"I have to love you," Kourkoutis added. "If I'm going to spend hours in a room with you, you have to be nice, and you have to be a good person, and I have to love you."

Wondagurl had already worked with rappers Travis Scott and Jay Z by the time she was 16, and soon also started working with Drake. When Doyle asked her what it was like to walk into the room to work with Drake for the first time, Wondagurl's answer was to the point: "It felt good, but I wasn't overthinking it. I was just like, 'I'm supposed to be here.'"

Avant spoke about joining the songwriting team of Jason Brando, Lubalin and Cardin for her song "Confetti," and talked about working through many iterations of the now multi-Juno-nominated song, spanning different genres. "If the song is great on just guitar and voice, you know it's going to be good," he explained of their experimental process.

The Juno Block Party on the Halifax waterfront kicked off with New Brunswick hip-hop group City Natives, and saw tons of local talent grace the stage including Reeny, Haliey and Micah Smith, as well as Joce Reyome and Gary Beals. Classified closed out the night with a whole roster of guest stars, from Choclair to Skratch Bastid to David Myles.

Host Nelly Furtado is bringing the party to the 2024 Juno Awards on Sunday, March 24, at 8 p.m ET. Tune in on CBC-TV, CBC Gem, CBC Radio One, CBC Music and CBC Listen, and stream globally on cbcmusic.ca/junos.